William Edward Leuchtenburg

In The Supreme Court Reborn, esteemed scholar William E. Leuchtenburg explores the critical episodes of the legal revolution that created the Court we know today. Leuchtenburg deftly portrays the events leading up to Roosevelt's showdown with the Supreme Court. Committed to laissez-faire doctrine, the conservative "Four Horsemen" - Justices Butler, Van Devanter, Sutherland, and McReynolds - aided by the swing vote of Justice Owen Roberts - struck down one regulatory law after another, outraging Roosevelt and much of the Depression-stricken nation. Leuchtenburg demonstrates that Roosevelt thought he had the backing of the country as he prepared a scheme to undermine the Four Horsemen. Famous (or infamous) as the "Court-packing plan," this proposal would have allowed the president to add one new justice for every sitting justice over the age of seventy. The plan picked up considerable momentum in Congress, it was only after a change in the voting of Justice Roberts (called "the switch in time that saved nine") and the death of Senate Majority Leader Joseph T. Robinson that it shuddered to a halt. Roosevelt's persistence led to one of his biggest legislative defeats. Despite the failure of the Court-packing plan, however, the president won his battle with the Supreme Court; one by one, the Four Horsemen left the bench, to be replaced by Roosevelt appointees. Leuchtenburg explores the far-reaching nature of FDR's victory. As a consequence of the Constitutional revolution that began in 1937, not only was the New Deal upheld (as precedent after precedent was overturned), but also the Court began a dramatic expansion of civil liberties that would culminate in the Warren Court. Among the surprises was Senator Hugo Black, who faced widespread opposition for his lack of qualifications when he was appointed as associate justice, shortly afterward, a reporter revealed that he had been a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Despite that background, Black became an articulate spokesman for individual liberty.

A reknowned historian recounts how President Roosevelt inspired the country and changed forever the political, social, economic, and even the physical landscape of the United States--Cover.

Traces the trnsformation of the United States from an agrarian, isolationist nation into a liberal, industrialized power entagled in foreign affairs in spite of itself.

Examines the influence of FDR's strategies and policies on the administrations of the eight men who have succeeded him in the oval office.

William E. Leuchtenburg, Columbia University. Quoted from the author's Preface: [A Troubled Feast] seeks to fill a large gap in courses in the history of the United States by providing the first account of the national experience from 1945 to the present day . Quoted from Back Cover--The Essence of this book is suggested by its title. The "troubled" aspects may well be the more familiar--the frightful assassinations of public men, the malignant effects of two Asian wars, the endemic violence, the persistence of social ills. Acknowledgment of the reality of the "feast"-that is, the widespread affluence made possible by the prodigious expansion of the economy-has often been more grudging. Yet in these years millions were lifted out of poverty, millions more into the ranks of the middle class. And it was the abundance that shaped many of the contours of American society in the nearly three decades since 1945, especially the consumer culture in its multifarious ramifications, and that exerted a decisive influence upon not only the troubles of this era but the too little noticed advances.

Renowned New Deal historian Leuchtenburg offers a frank, thoughtful portrait of the lifelong public servant, and shrewdly assesses Hoover's policies and legacy in the face of one of the darkest periods of American history--the Great Depression.

Publisher description : This book traces the political, economic, social, and cultural phenomena that transformed America from an agrarian, primarily decentralized, moralistic, isolationist nation into an industrial, urban, morally liberalized nation involved in foreign affairs in spite of itself. Beginning with Woodrow Wilson and U.S. entry into World War I and closing with the Great Depression, The Perils of Prosperity traces the transformation of America from an agrarian, moralistic, isolationist nation into a liberal, industrialized power involved in foreign affairs in spite of itself. William E. Leuchtenburg's lively yet balanced account of this hotly debated era in American history has been a standard text for many years. This substantial revision gives greater weight to the roles of women and minorities in the great changes of the era and adds new insights into literature, the arts, and technology in daily life. He has also updated the lists of important dates and resources for further reading. "This book gives us a rare opportunity to enjoy the matured interpretation of an American Historian who has returned to the story and seen how recent decades have added meaning and vividness to this epoch of our history."--Daniel J. Boorstin, from the Preface William E. Leuchtenburg is William Rand Kenan Professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and recent past president of the American Historical Association. He has published numerous books on twentieth-century American history.

"Over fifty years after its original publication, this classic work in American history is in its seventh edition. In a clear, vigorous style, its celebrated authors present the rich and complex narrative of America's experience in an account that extends from the pre-Columbian age to 1877 in Volume I, and in Volume II from 1877 to the present. Expertly revised to bring the study fully up to date, it reflects new insights derived from significant modern research."--Publisher description.

When the stability of American life was threatened by the Great Depression, the decisive and visionary policy contained in FDR's New Deal offered America a way forward. In this work, Leuchtenburg traces the evolution of what was both the most controversial and effective socioeconomic initiative ever undertaken in the United States--and explains how the social fabric of American life was forever altered. It offers illuminating lessons on the challenges of economic transformation--for our time and for all time.

"In American Places, more than two dozen of America's most gifted historians write about their own encounters with historic places, bringing a personal viewpoint to bear on a wide variety of sites, ranging from Monticello to Fenway Park."--BOOK JACKET.